Towards self-adaptable robots: from programming to training machines

Víctor Mayoral, Risto Kojcev, Nora Etxezarreta, Alejandro Hernández, Irati Zamalloa

Abstract: We argue that hardware modularity plays a key role in the convergence of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). We introduce a new approach for building robots that leads to more adaptable and capable machines. We present the concept of a self-adaptable robot that makes use of hardware modularity and AI techniques to reduce the effort and time required to be built. We demonstrate in simulation and with a real robot how, rather than programming, training produces behaviors in the robot that generalize fast and produce robust outputs in the presence of noise. In particular, we advocate for mammals.

Keywords: robots, modular robots, self-adaptable robots, AI, RL, DRL, reconfigurable robots

TL;DR: We present the concept of a self-adaptable robot that makes use of modularity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to reduce the effort and time required to be built.